Jed York’s challenge: Fix the front office, fix the 49ers

Just wanted to say that I always got along with Scot McCloughan and I figure to get along with him whenever we talk again.

He’s apparently experiencing some tough personal issues and I hope he gets all the time, and peace, and family comfort, that he wants and needs.

I know he always dreamed of being an NFL GM, but I don’t know if he’ll get another chance after this odd, poorly-timed situation. Maybe he can get back to scouting. Maybe his mentor Mike Holmgren will have something for him.

I know a lot of people in the NFL like him and are probably reaching out to him right now.

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When I’ve dealt with him, McCloughan has answered every question as honestly as I could’ve ever asked–and sometimes much more honestly than I expected.

Some of the most important things I know about the 49ers–some things that make it clearer for readers, I hope–I know because McCloughan told me.

He’s OK with criticism, at least from my point of view, and over the years had no problem arguing about a few things here and there, generally in a good- natured way.

I think McCloughan’s a pretty good judge of talent. I think he’s loyal and probably was too loyal to Mike Nolan over their first three-plus years together.

I think McCloughan was not totally on-board with the promoting of Mike Singletary as interim coach, but McCloughan made it work. (He wasn’t on-board with the hiring of Mike Martz as OC the year before, and that DIDN’T work.)

I think Scot can be stubborn, but that’s not any different than most sports executives (and columnists) you run into. I think McCloughan was learning on the job, and I think he definitely upgraded the talent level of the roster.

But yes, there were things I’d wondered about–periods when McCloughan was not seen or heard from, at least publicly, which I always thought was strange for an NFL GM.

I don’t know if that’s tied to what is forcing him out. I presume it is, but I could be wrong. Maybe Scot will explain it to us at some point. Maybe not.

Maybe we’ll play some golf at some distant point in the future, and not much of this will matter.

By the way, McCloughan can hit a golf ball a million miles… and joke about hitting it anywhere but onto the fairway.

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He’s often told me I should join him for a round with Paraag Marathe and Jed York, which I always thought would’ve been hilarious but it was probably not temperamentally feasible.

Only McCloughan would’ve even joked about a foursome like that, or wanted to.

—-the column/

Scot McCloughan is out, the 49ers’ front office is in turmoil, and, five weeks before the draft, the Yorks are exercising their emergency powers once again.

Declaring 49ers martial law. Hunkering down and locking up the compound.

Handing out battlefield promotions and pretending that everything is fine when we all know that chaos reigns.

This, I hate to point out, is sort of how the Yorks ended up with McCloughan as the general manager, running the football operation side by side with coach Mike Singletary.

Of course, this is not when the Yorks are at their best or most levelheaded.

They have had a lot of practice, mostly because John and Jed York never seem to be able to maintain peace and prosperity in their kingdom.

The McCloughan crisis/departure, however, is uniquely destabilizing for a franchise that is not exactly anchored in bedrock.

The draft is almost here, with the 49ers holding two first-round picks and set up by McCloughan to do some very creative things.

Meanwhile, other giant questions loom: Is Alex Smith really the long-term quarterback? Can Singletary break through? Who makes the call if Singletary can’t?

By most accounts, McCloughan is leaving — either permanently or temporarily, depending on the source — to deal with personal issues.

That’s not the Yorks’ fault. They apparently have treated McCloughan with great compassion, and John and Jed want us to believe that McCloughan has been given a road back to employment.

All very noble, though it’s probably not realistic to envision McCloughan coming back to such a pressure cooker after such a dramatic departure.

All very thoughtful, nevertheless.

But McCloughan is the man the Yorks hired five years ago to aid Mike Nolan, he’s the man they promoted over Nolan three years ago, and he’s the man Jed York believed was the perfect philosophical teammate for Singletary.

McCloughan’s fall is, in part, the Yorks’ fall, too.

He was their fixer: McCloughan badly wanted to be the executive who came up with the answers and solved the 49ers’ cycle of disarray.

The Yorks always agreed, keeping McCloughan in power while luminaries such as Mike Holmgren and Scott Pioli ended up elsewhere.

But on his way out, after all the stability he provided previously, McCloughan is exacerbating and spotlighting every confusing thing that he wanted to eliminate.

What does Jed York do now?

Nobody in the 49ers’ organization was talking Thursday, which is their typical stance in the face of great tumult. When everybody wants an answer from this franchise, none is given.

At this point, it looks like the 49ers will temporarily hand McCloughan’s responsibilities to his deputies — Trent Baalke and Tom Gamble.

Singletary almost certainly will want and get a larger say in personnel matters. Paraag Marathe always has York’s ear.

None of those names, however, seems like a long-term GM answer. None has been associated with big-picture roster vision or has found independent success with any other team.

But I don’t think the Yorks will be looking (or paying) for a strong independent voice. And I’m not sure a Big Presence GM would be the right choice, anyway.

Singletary is the face of the franchise, and a Power GM might not be comfortable inheriting such a hurricane personality.

The Yorks are rather unique employers, too, you might have heard.

Would a Power GM happily accept John, Jed and Marathe looking over his shoulder, second-guessing, and potentially overruling?

Probably not. That’s why McCloughan, for all his strengths and weaknesses, was so vital to the York operation. McCloughan might have his own demons, but he was good with everybody in the building.

Without him, Jed York either has to commit to a GM who might clash with Singletary and ownership, or he has to hire a caretaker GM and basically assume control himself, Jerry Jones-style.

My guess: A caretaker GM and Jed York with all the power, betting the entire York regime — and future stadium — on Singletary and Jed York’s own abilities. Can the Yorks stomach that?

It’s not exactly the way the Patriots or Eagles do it. It might not be what 49ers fans want or deserve.

And there are obviously huge risks involved.

But if Jed York is going to rule, and if Singletary is his man, I don’t see another legitimate way for them to do this.

Everything else has unraveled. The 49ers’ most trusted executive is walking away. Once and for all, Jed, let’s see what you’ve got.

While he was mostly liked and generally appreciated for his hard work in the organization, I doubt that McCloughan was much more articulate and surface smart away from the mic, than he was in front of it, where he was appallingly mush mouthed and dim sounding. I remember being shocked when I heard him speak the first few times.

He was surrounded by God’s gift to gab himself, St. Singletary, the silver tongued-vizier, Paramananda and of course, the uber-glib scion of Niner royalty, JED I. He had to contend with big egos, if not always big minds. I bet it took a toll on a guy who was in reality, nothing more than a senior scout at heart. McCloughan, likely wearied of dealing with these jackals on a daily basis, as they were always angling for position and power, gaining control through naked acquisitions of organizational turf and the cultivation of key allies.

He was way above pay grade swimming with sharks sans protective cage.

This led to drinking problems (my take), which likely led to domestic issues (my take as well).

I think it’s all interconnected and The Niners, being The Niners, the team that traded Shaun Hill without anyone telling him (including Scotty) used Scotty to the very last drop, extracting as much draft info and player evaluation as possible before cutting him loose at the very last moment, just as they head into the draft bunker.

They knew about his personal issues and played on them when the moment arose.

That’s what happens when you work with psychopaths.

toby

if you want the truth….just at patrick willis……….. he’ll tell you………….just like the qb issue!

As a young man who bleeds Gold and Red this worries me to the core. I feel for Scott, but this isn’t good for anyone. Those two first round picks are huge this draft, and there are so many possibilities that come with them that a seasoned GM would know what to do and who to call on draft day. On the flip side maybe a Jerry Jones type owner will land us a first round playmaker on offense??? Jed doesn’t strike me as that type though. These are the 49ers of our lives…

RickRaff

Who cares if he answered your questions? You media schmucks would say Charles Manson is a great guy if he gave a good interview.

The fans only care about the product on the field, and in Scott’s time with the 49ers he was not successful. This is no great loss. However, I do wish him well in his future endeavors!

Mike

Tim, your advocating that Jed York be the decider for the Niners is absolutely the most idiotic drivel you have ever written. York should hire a first rate football man to be GM and let him do his job. If he asks Uncle Eddie, I’m sure that’s what he will be told.

fanfor life

Watch the York’s once again display their complete
incompetence!!!!! Giving Jed more power over football
operations will be the first step. We Niner fans were blessed
with many yrs of greatness but these jokers are making us
pay dearly—

Michael R

Not a big fan of yours…

But one of your better articles.

Bob

As a lifetime 49er fan, my first reaction was “well, that’s a typical York decision one month before the draft”. Then, I started wondering exactly what happened. Until we actually hear from the 49ers, we won’t know for sure. I can tell you one thing. I stopped buying 49 tickets several years ago and won’t be buying tickets in the future until we get new ownership that truly wants to put a winner on the field and will spend the money to get the proper people in the organization to accomplish that. I feel sorry for the current season ticket holders who are great fans but are celebrating after an 8-8 season. Maybe season ticket holders should reconsider purchasing their tickets this year(and avoiding a huge price increase) to send a message to the York’s that they are no longer interested in supporting a loosing organization.

fitzie

Now TK has resorted to kissing @rs3 to land an interview with the former GM.

steve

Man Tim, you have a Smörgåsbord of poorly run pro franchises in your backyard. You are blessed.

http://www.robertphoenix.com dominmatrix

So check out this pattern.

Al Everest is let go, because of “personal problems.”

Andy Dolich is let go, but is retained as a consultant, so he isn’t really fired per se.

Scotty is on extended leave due to personal issues.

Do they ever really f**king fire anyone?

Again, they love their illusion of continuity. People don’t get fired from their jobs there, they just sort of stop showing up one day, down the memory hole.

Shaun Hill? Was he really traded? No one ever told him. It’s like he was never really there.

These are some strange cats.

I’m dead serious about this.

They cannot confront closure at all.

It’s called denial.

http://ninersnation bruce

Here we go again, more dysfunction. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again the Niners will never be a winning team again and have any success as long as the yorks continue to own and run this franchise.

Scott

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie !

Mark

I don’t believe Tim was advocating Jed take over everything; he said that was his guess at how they would proceed. Although from a columnist’s POV, it would ensure plenty of material.

Ron

Lets hope that two things do not happen.
1. Daddy York gets involved with the team again.
2. Number cruncher Pareeg gets the GM job.

Ron

If I were the boy King I would sit down with my Head Coach and go over the list of football people who may be available, then come to a mutual decision on who to pursue. Key word being a football guy, not a wannabee.

ID49er

If there really is a divine being that controls the destiny of the universe, would he/she please take the 49ers away from the Yorks. This isn’t an option. Right effing now would be just fine for us niner fans.

Vermonator

I’ll throw a name out there for GM that nobody has thought of…

A person that has had a history with the organization, someone Jed can trust and who is respected throughout the league, which has worked with the best evaluators of talent in the business, and knows how to run a successful sports franchise….

Eddie DeBartolo!!!

jason

yep, hire uncle eddie to be your gm.

niner

as admitted, he was a work in progress, a glorified scout who learning on the job. He had hits on some top 15 players, but he should have right, we ended with .500 or below for 7 years. With NO , Texans, Miami and Giants turning around it would be logical to assume he was let go for his work, Balmer over jackson (Rices recommendation) because you dont draft short players? but what if its the obvious not the a mystery. What if the 49ers want him to work on whatever issue he has ( like we dont drink, gamble, or have marital problems). I think you should never do idiot things , like hire inexperienced HC and GM’s at the same time, in an obvious ploy to save money, but this is Jed not dufus John York. If Eddie D has some say, the management choice ( if the Yorks aren’t trying to save a few bucks again and not have a GM) should be much better.

Stan…

I always thought he was too intense,always wound up. Deer in the headlights look. Just for a simple interview.
The media doesnt like getting into real world issues..drugs is about it. Duch’s depression,Russell’s still unmentioned emotional issues, Bi-polar’s like Robbins. Or some people are racist and make for lousy teammates or GM’s or owners.
You cant do a Patton and slap these guys into shape. It didnt even work for Patton.

Speaking of racists-Mike Savage on the A’s station sure skirts being outed with his jokes of Obama playing night basketball or his endless “immigrants on welfare” storys.
Even when he’s prove wrong by a caller..Savage goes on without missing a beat repeating what the previous caller had shown to be incorrect!
And cry me a river when talks of being a young social worker and sleeping on a Futon while disabled people were getting $700 a month and buying “real furniture”. Yeah,I’m sure after food, bills, and shelter, the money left bought the best orange crates!..not too mention everybody young out of college starts at the bottom-Savage(Weiner is his real name,why he changed it -I have no idea, Oscar-lol) thinks he should have been cheif?
Imagine that-he’s now a millionaire..and he’s bitter at disabled people!

Will

“John and Jed York never seem to be able to maintain peace and prosperity in their kingdom…”? How long as Jed been running things? A year? Too short a time to say he “never” or “always” does anything, Tim. Small point, maybe, but this has the feel of a situation that was not at all of his making, and 24 hours into this everyone is predicting disaster. We liked him up until now, so… let’s wait two seconds and see what he does. Or does that conflict with your news cycle?

The Yorks aren’t qualified to evaluate football talent and shouldn’t be involved with it. If they are…then the future for the 49ers is bleak….look how Al Davis and the Snyders have done…and even Jerry Jones has made huge mistakes when he jumped in. Scot I think was a good talent evaluator and in overall drafted well…but is apparently not GM material. The 49ers need to find a A caliber talent evaluator to replace him…and find a GM to manage the personnel (I don’t think this person is currently in the 49ers organization). I think Singletary has shown that he can coach and run the games…and should certainly have an input and be involved with personnel decisions…but at this point, he needs an expert talent evaluator to help him. This draft will be interesting…I just hope they don’t trade both first round picks to move up and get Clausen.

http://thehealingfrequency.com Healing

I like Scot and we have some really good solid draft picks from 2006 up to present. Eddie would be really nice to help us get to the top again.

robert rowell

man praag would be the perfect GM for the 9ers. he knows nothing about ball, advocates doing things on the cheap, and knows nothing about ball.

haha santa clara, still want to cough up $$$ for these bunch of clowns? enjoy the losses and the traffic jams.

painday

Lord…please help us . deliver us from the three stooges of the NFL..John, Jed and Paraag, and I guess Danise is shemp. This is how you move when a stadium and Jed’s credability are on the line. Fire the GM and do it your self? Hire a true experienced G.M. from outside. Amen.

http://mindbodyspirit.me Holistic Practitioner

Eddie D. Please! I hear Bill Parcells is available!

http://thehealingfrequency.com/zapper/ Clark Zapper

Jed York looks like a genius now, thanks to his getting Harbaugh and co!